A Woman’s View ~ Lenore Buth

How sticky notes can raise your happiness level

These days there don't seem to be a lot of reasons to feel good.

If anyone had reason to feel sorry for themselves it was the Pilgrims that first Thanksgiving in 1621. Maybe we imagine a table groaning with food, but that's not likely. Late the previous autumn they had landed at Plymouth, MA, with 102 people. Then over the winter 47 family members and friends had perished, including 14 of the original 18 adult women.

Yet the survivors set aside a day to give thanks to God.

Then and now, having a thankful heart has nothing to do with abundance.

Gratitude flows from remembering the Giver

I heard a radio interview with a man who works with recovering alcoholics and their families. He talked of one practice he recommends that worked well with his clients and can benefit all of us.

Here it is: Keep gratitude lists for our lives, one for each family member, one for work, one for school, etc. Use regular paper or sticky notes. The process is simple.

• Look for things to be thankful for in each person and in each situation
  
  
• Add to our list(s) whenever we notice something more
  
  
• Reread our lists (or notes) frequently
  
  
• Notice how our awareness and sense of gratitude grows
  

Even troubled people in hard circumstances found their point-of-view changed, he said. Individuals became happier and more contented even if everything in their lives remained the same.

It's a step in learning to be happy, independent of anyone or anything else. Rich or poor, married or single, our happiness is our own responsibility.

Taking it one step further

One speaker suggested using sticky notes in other ways. She wrote reminders to herself and placed them around the house. Like "Remember your diet!" on her stash of chocolates.

This gal was working on becoming a more positive person. She wrote the word, "Smile!" on sticky notes and put them on her bathroom mirror, on her computer screen, over the stove, in her car, etc.

Later she began writing favorite Bible passages and sticking them up, every day a new one. She found it made a dramatic difference in her perspective on life. 

I've done that in a sort of disorganized fashion. Here are some of my favorite reassuring verses:

The joy of the LORD is your strength. --Nehemiah 8:10 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust. -- Psalm 103 :13-14   

God is our refuge and strength, an ever  present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,l though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.  --Psalm 46:1-2

Reason for thanks, even if we're at the end of our rope

The Pilgrims didn't have sticky notes and times were tough, but they knew the real "why" for giving thanks.  

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.  --Psalm 118:29 (NASB)

Blessings to you and yours this Thanks-giving. I give thanks for each of you who stop by for a visit, truly.  

Love,

Lenore    

Q. Do you have a favorite Bible verse to share?

 

 

 

When living by faith becomes a crime, what are we to do?

Right this minute there are big issues issues at stake in our Nation. 

If you've read this blog for awhile you know I haven't waded in the murky waters of politics. I do so only because vital issues are getting lost in all the blather.

One involves both our faith as Christians and our rights as citizens under The Constitution of the United States.  George Washington said, " . . . its only keepers, the people."

That's you and me, my friend. We are the keepers of our Constitution.

Are we paying attention?

One major issue relates to the often-referenced First Amendment

Amendment I was ratified December 15, 1791. Here's what it says:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

From the beginning word spread all over the world about America's Constitution and the rights it guarantees. That's why America shone like a beacon of freedom to my great-grandparents who wanted to worship God according to their understanding of what the Bible teaches and without government interference. In America they could live by faith without fear.

That's always been true. Until now.

Enter the new health care law, which mandates what employers must cover   

Take Tyndale House Publishers and Hobby Lobby as examples. Since a Christian couple founded Tyndale House 50 years ago this firm has only published Bibles and Christian books. Their son, Mark D. Taylor, is the current president. Tyndale's 260 employees currently are covered by their employee health plan. Taylor, a Protestant, has no moral objection to contraceptives per se. However, as a Christian he believes it's against what the Bible teaches to provide Plan B (the morning-after pill), Ella (the week-after pill) and intrauterine devices to covered employees.

Our Government says he must. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has ruled that health insurance plans must provide such contraceptives free of charge. Tyndale House is a for-profit entity. Therefore, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says this Company does not qualify as a "religious organization" and therefore, is not eligible for an exemption.

(Tayor notes that even exemptions granted to nonprofit entities such as the Roman Catholic Church will expire after one year.)

Fines for failure to comply will cost Tyndale as much as $100 per day, per employee. That equals $26,000 per day. $780,000 per month. $9.36 million per year.

Tyndale management's only "crime" is wanting to freely exercise their faith without Government interference. They believe the federal government is telling them they must either violate their own conscience or pay fines that will put them out of business.

It doesn't stop there

Hobby Lobby was founded 40 years ago by a family working out of their garage on a $600 bank loan. The children, now adults, are involved in the business, which now has stores in more than 500 locations in 41 states. They believe it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured and aim to honor God and to treat their employees well with above-average pay and many benefits. They provide an employee health plan, but consider Plan B, Ella and intrauterine devices to be abortifacients. 

Hobby Lobby gives half its pre-tax earnings directly to a portfolio of evangelical ministries. It has  given away and distributed over 1.4 billion copies of Gospel literature mostly in Asia and Africa. It sponsors the YouVersion Bible app for mobile phones, which has been downloaded more than 50 million times. Yet this is a secular, for-profit company.

These business owners, too, believe requirements of Obamacare go against the Biblical principles on which their company was founded. Hobby Lobby's non-compliance fines could total $1.3 million per day.

So Hobby Lobby reluctantly sued the Government in Oklahoma City Federal courts. Their lawyer cited their "deeply held religious beliefs" as individuals and business owners who seek an injunction to block enforcement of the new health care law. 

In a piece dated October 24, 2012, The Washington Post, reported the U.S. government was urging the federal judge hearing the case to deny the request to block enforcement of the new health care law.

The dilemma for employers is obvious. They either go against their faith and keep employee health plans in place or follow their conscience and go out of business.

They either obey their understanding of what God says or what the Government says.

Look behind the smoke screen and the endless blather on TV

Numerous interviews and articles trumpet the same endless discussions about "women's reproductive rights," "contraceptive freedom," "bigots who want to ban birth control," etc. 

This is not the issue.

For the record, I am not against contraception. Opinions vary about the morning-after (up to three days after) pill and the week-after pill, which induce a woman's uterus to slough off an implanted fertilized egg. Those of us who believe life begins at the moment of conception view these meds as abortifacients. Intrauterine devices are devices placed in the uterus by a physician that in various ways interfere with a fertilized egg being implanted on the wall of the uterus. 

It seems to me there are three questions:

• In cases such as Tyndale House and Hobby Lobby, is our Government "prohibiting the free exercise" of the owners' religion as they understand it?
  
• As individuals of faith, what do we hold to be true?
  
  
• If provisions of this tax-supported new health care plan violate our personal religious views, will we vote for candidates who back it?
  
  
• Will we speak well of business owners who abide by faith? Will we support them with our words and give them our business?

Some words to think about  

"The LORD gave me this message: 'I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb.'"  --Jeremiah 1: 4  (NLT)

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, and I know that full well.   --Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.   --Joshua 24:15b  (NIV)

My reader friends, let's be sure to thoughtfully, prayerfully exercise our rights as American citizens and VOTE!

Praying along with you,

Lenore

 

Warning: Giving into anger results in loss of power

    Have you ever said, "He/she makes me so mad!" 

    I have. We're not hotheads, you and I, but you know how it goes. After all, "some people" just won't let up. Won't cooperate. Won't face the truth. Won't see it our way. Won't ... give in.

    We label the anger that boils up inside us "totally justified." Eventually we make like a teakettle: We gush forth that head of steam--and it feels good, at least for the moment. Feeling vindicated, we stand a bit taller and pat ourselves on the back for being strong.  

    But those few delicious moments of feeling superior and righteous carry a high price tag. Angry, careless words can poison the atmosphere between marriage partners, divide a family, end a friendship, put up walls.

    Besides, when I respond in anger, I give away power ... willingly. I hand over control of my mood and my life to someone else. That's not good for either person involved. Healthy relationships thrive on mutual respect, coupled with each one's self-respect. Verbal attacks tarnish and tear down.

     So it's worth figuring out how to short-circuit this progression of temper. As usual, the wisdom of Scripture provides a trustworthy way. Probably you've heard Proverbs 15:1:

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

     I used to consider that a bit wimpy, like an admonition to "put up and shut up." I don't see it that way any more. Holding back anger requires strength beyond the norm. When I offer a gentle answer even though attacked, it adds validity when I say I follow Christ.

     Does that remove the built-in pull to let 'er rip? No. You and I remain human, so we'll stumble and slip and sometimes feel we're just mouthing words. Let's respond in love anyway, because that's who we are. 

    It helps to avoid instant replays. Instead, pray for healing and tick off good qualities in the other person, remember the good times. Before long those words that felt hollow will ring true in your heart. Next time you're with that individual, talk about the good stuff. Celebrate together that this wave of emotion didn't sink you and you've come through stronger than before. 

    (In case you wonder, my husband is cool-headed, I'm a bit more spirited. We've learned to talk things through. The big surprise: We appreciate qualities in each other that used to irritate , because we see how we complement each other. Who woulda thunk it?)

    So hang in there, friends. The best times may lie ahead! 

    Lenore

    Question for you: How do you handle anger? Any tips to pass on? Your comments welcomed!  (Click on the word "comments" at the end of this piece and follow directions.)